Camden’s Anchor Institutions Provide Jobs, Services and a Bright Future
Camden, New Jersey is a city of hope and promise. Five years after the State announced a $175million investment in Camden’s revitalization, there is good news to tell.Major development projects are providing jobs, services and the promise of a stronger economic future for the city. Specifically, a new wave of investment by and through Camden’s higher education and healthcare institutions is coming to represent a new era for the city. This report describes the results fromfive years of investments by the 8major higher education and healthcare institutions: neighborhood improvements,much-needed jobs for Camden residents, and crucial services.
Extending our Impact to the Community
Whether it is housing, community parks, or investing in “human capital” in Camden, our institutions are committed to helping realize Camden’s great potential and improve the quality of life in the city.
We have worked to improve the housing around our institutions – Rutgers-Camden contributed land for the Cooper Grant town homes, the first market rate housing developed for home ownership in Camden in decades, and Cooper University Hospital today provides financial help for employees to buy homes in Cooper Plaza. Virtua continues its successful home ownership classes in Liberty Park; and people recognize that our neighborhoods are some of the best places to live in the region.
Amenities are key to housing revitalization. Camden’s newest rehabilitated park, Johnson Park in downtown, was made possible through Rutgers-Camden’s commitment to provide all maintenance. Cooper University Hospital is similarly committed to providing 20 years of maintenance for three new and expanded parks in Cooper Plaza that resulted from a community-led design process. New ground floor retail spaces, planned as part of institutional developments, are making neighborhoods more vibrant, with the Camden County College, Rowan and Rutgers joint downtown bookstore as a shining example.
In downtown, various members of the Higher Education and Healthcare Task Force financially support the Camden Special Services District, an effort begun in 2005 by the Greater Camden Partnership to staff streets with “ambassadors” who greet pedestrians and keep the area clean and safe. In addition, as partners in community tree plantings and cleanups, members are making neighborhoods look brighter.
Camden’s elementary through high school students benefit from various internship, summer work, and after-school programs run by the institutions. Cooper’s SummerWork Program provides paid positions to Camden high school students; UMDNJ medical school students teach an after-school “Health Sciences Academy” to outstanding high school juniors and seniors; Rutgers- Camden supports and champions the academically outstanding L.E.A.P. charter school adjacent to its campus; and Virtua hosts the new D.U.E. Season charter school in its Camden facility. Camden County College now brings students from Met East High School to college level classes, and Rowan offers precollege programs to students in grades 7 – 12.
UMDNJ and Rutgers-Camden’s policing forces keep not only their campuses but their communities safer, and Virtua opened its doors to create centralized home bases for Camden City’s Police Patrol Division, and for the city’s teen curfew center.
A Camden Success Story
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It’s hard to believe that in 2004, Anissa Bush was out of work and receiving welfare. Her life began to turn around when she enrolled in the "Upward Mobility" career training program. Upon completion, Anissa was hired into a patient transport position at Cooper University Hospital where she worked 40 hours a week, often nights and weekends. As a mom, it was a tough balance – but Anissa excelled, and was promoted in 2005. Today, she holds the position of Secretary II in the Engineering/ Maintenance Department, works weekday hours, and has received a wage increase of nearly 50% since starting at Cooper, as well as health care coverage for her family. Anissa lives in Cooper Plaza, just two blocks from the hospital, with her husband and three children. Her husband works full-time and volunteers as a hospital chaplain. Anissa is proud of her family’s financial independence, and excited about new housing and parks planned for their neighborhood. Anissa hopes to become a homeowner and is thrilled that her oldest daughter is on track to enroll at Rutgers in Fall 2009.
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